Likely you are tapped out financially after the donations and the market crash, got your signs on the front lawn, have made calls or gone door-to-door, and made up your mind how to vote on the ballot questions.
Most everyone has made up their mind how they are going to vote by now -- for national and local elections -- and if they haven't made up their minds they are not likely to vote at all.
So what needs to be done now is ensure that all our supporters get out to vote, and that all our supporters are able to vote.
In one county where I have anonymous sources in the election board there are thousands of newly registered voters who will be forced to vote on a provisional, paper ballot because there is not enough time to get them entered into the computers and printed in the official voter books.
That's just one county with 20 or so towns, meaning at least 100 or more provisional ballots in every town. That's a major record, and it could be worse. Poll workers are always confused by provisional ballots, and it takes them away from the tables where they can keep the lines moving.
Add in the thousands of new voters and the tens of thousands of regular voters and polling places will be teeming with people trying to vote dealing with frustrated poll workers and overwhelmed support staff.
Here are some steps you can take to help reduce the confusion and ensure a smoother election.
Vote by absentee ballot -- Apply for an absentee ballot and take yourself out of the election day confusion. You can vote by mail for any reason, but you need to get it done quickly. The last day county clerks will mail out your ballot is October 28, and the last day you can vote absentee in person at the clerk's office is November 3 by 3 p.m. Encourage your neighbors to do the same. Absentee Ballot Application and list of County Clerks
Become a poll worker -- This is one where you can get paid! Most counties are still looking for poll workers, and it is vitally important that smart folks with stamina sign up. You'll be trained in how to deal with the provisional ballots, machine problems, etc. You can get paid to help create a smooth election. Contact your local County Clerk or your County Democratic chair to find out how.
Become a challenger -- Each party is allowed to have representatives in the polls, and usually doesn't have enough people to do it. As a challenger you can help voters who have problems with not being in the books, with being told to vote provisionally, and you'll have a phone number of some lawyers to call in case there is real trouble. This is a vital role in any election that is rarely filled enough. The cool part is that you can do this for just a few hours of the day around your own schedule. Contact your County Democratic chair to offer your assistance.
Any other suggestions on how to make election day run more smoothly? Put them in the comments.
There are going to be problems at the polls due to the amazing influx of new votes. Here's a piece from the local Gannet papers today:
In at least three counties - Essex, Passaic and Somerset - election officials do not think they will be able to process every form in time to get every registered voter in the books that workers use to check in voters at polling places.
Voters whose names do not appear in the books are entitled to use paper provisional ballots. The provisional ballots are counted after officials verify the voters are registered.
But the point is that every provisional ballot is one or two poll workers taken off the tables, one or two poll worker who isn't there to help other voters cast their ballots.
Which means longer lines, lots longer lines.
So please, please, please vote absentee this year. And get everyone you know pulling the Democratic lever to do so as well. It will not only ensure that their votes get counted and the lines are shorter, but it will make our GOTV efforts easier on election day.
Some of you've heard me affectionately refer to the Blue Jersey community as "the Blogsteins." Dunno where it came from, but it's a little easier to say than "the Blue Jersey community." You're reading this, so chances are you're a Blogstein.
This rule-of-thumb can apply to front pagers, alums ( JRBlogstein, anyone?) and diarists alike (Steven Goldstein-Blogstein, Dennis McBlogstein, et al.) Congressman Rob Andrews is definitely a Blogstein. I am biased of course. But I wanted to take a minute to explain why.
Rewind
I discoved the Jersey blogosphere about three years ago, a bit about our state's smoking ban.
Since then there've been twists and turns + some real progressive victories (and demi-victories) along the way. All the while the struggle for legitimacy -- as bloggers in an increasingly blog friendly world --was made easier by politicians like Rob Andrews giving a little boost.
(Frankly we're lucky in New Jersey since many of our legislators have been generous with their time and access. I dare say none more so than Rob Andrews, especially back in the beginning.)
Some people write letters to their Congressman. The Blogsteins do podcasts with 'em!
It's satisfying when Governors and Congressmen grant access, but this is a little deeper than that: becoming a Blogstein meant amplifying my liberal voice and ensuing more agency to fight for ending the death penalty (check); family leave insurance (check) and gay marriage (stay tuned.) It's all because of blogging. Who knew? I was more than just a guy at a protest with a sign.
And whenever I reached out, Rob Andrews was around to talk about stuff like Iraq to GLBT rights. Everything was on the table. And in retrospect that access lent some legitimacy to what I was trying to get done over at Casa Blogstein.
New Jersey votes June 3
Fast forward to April 2oo8 when Rob Andrews announced his run for US Senate. One of the first decisions the campaign made was to embrace New Media like blogging, vlogging and (to a lesser extent) facebook and Myspace. Suddenly the Andrews for US Senate campaign became a perfect place for a Blogstein or two.
Voting machine woes were reported in Essex and Camden counties Tuesday morning, but election officials said the problems were not widespread.
....
David Wald, spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office, said about 25 machines didn't work properly Tuesday in Irvington, East Orange, Montclair, Newark and West Orange in Essex County, which has about 600 voting machines.
So machine problems aren't widespread...they just happen to be focused in high-density minority areas. Interesting.
A reader in Haddon Twp, Camden County writes:
One of the two machines in my district has been down all morning. Women at the polling place say they placed a call at 5:30 this morning. As of 11:50 no one had arrived to fix it.
There's already unconfirmed reports of problems with the Sequoia electronic voting machines. We just received word from one voter who suggests you bring a pencil with you to the polling booth in case you need to vote by provisional ballot:
My husband just came back (6:30 AM) from trying to vote; he said to me, "If you don't have a pencil, don't bother."
Three machines in the precinct were not working -- it's unclear whether there's anything wrong with them, or whether the poll workers couldn't figure out how to get them working. 12 people were in line at that point.
I'm in Montclair's Ward 1, District 8. The precinct is the Northeast School.
Update: The machine serving precint 8 is still not working, and voters continue to vote by provisional ballot. Poll workers say a new machine is on its way. The other two machines are now running.
I sat down with NJ Congressman (and fellow south Jersey homeboy) Rob Andrews the other day to try to make sense of the election day tea leaves. During our podcast-able interview, the Congressman and I hit a lot of topics including an Iraq war teaser (note to peaceniks: Andrews is calling for a radical new course in Iraq), his thoughts on blogs and alternative media, Camden county poll numbers, George Norcross, and even rollplaying Tom Kean Junior without a trustfund. And yeah, we talked a lot about the election, too. I decided to leave this interview largely unedited because I found that polishing it up took out all the best (and most releavling) moments.
My lasting impression of Rob Andrews is that he'd make a fantastic New Jersey Senator one day. I have a few reasons why I say that, but I'll share just one with you here: the way he spoke of his wife and two daughters. The guy is clearly smitten with the ladies in his life, and it has turned him into a feminist. And any man who's a bona fide feminist has a tremendous lot of ego strengh which to me is a big deal. Just my two cents. Now go make yourself a cup of tea (or hot chocolate) and listen for yourself.
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